The present invention provides a stent crimping device that may be used by the physician or other medical personnel to securely crimp a stent onto a balloon catheter prior to an interventional procedure. One object of the present invention is to provide circular stepped crimps at each end of the stent and along predetermined locations along the length of the stent. The number of intermediate circular stepped crimps can vary depending on the length of the stent. The circular stepped crimps provide points of high frictional resistence which significantly reduce the possibility that the stent will slip off of the catheter balloon when being delivered for an interventional procedure. Another object of the invention is to provide a simple hand-held crimping device that may be used on-site with a variety stents and delivery catheters thus obviating the need to stock a large inventory of pre-crimped stent/catheter devices.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the stent crimping device is made of a pair of sliding plates each having a number of raised, narrow ribs. The plates are oriented so that the narrow ribs face each other in a mutually opposed relationship. A stent bearing catheter may be placed between the opposing ribs such that the longitudinal axis of the stent is perpendicular to that of the ribs. Upon receipt of the stent bearing catheter, the sliding plates are pressed together and moved relative to one another thereby allowing the ribs to create the stepped circular crimps on the stent.
In a second embodiment, the stent crimping device includes an upper member having a number of downward facing concave semicircular crimping sectors and a lower member having a number of upward facing concave semicircular crimping sectors. The upper and lower members are oriented in a housing such that the upward and downward facing crimping sectors are mutually opposed to each other. In use, a stent bearing catheter is placed between the upper and lower members and the members are pressed together with a controlled degree of force to cause the crimping sectors to engage and form the semicircular stepped crimps on the stent.
While the embodiments described here are intended for use as hand-held devices, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the concept of a stepped circular crimp, whether it be rolled into a stent with straight ribs or impressed with semicircular sectors, may be readily adapted to high volume production machinery as well.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description thereof when taken in conjunction with the following drawings.